Our favourite eBay sellers (updated April 2016)

[Toasaurus]

Im confused on which vitae figures are which cause of the confusion but i really want to get them cheap with out accidentally orderingn the wrong figure

When I ordered Sinraptor and Zhejiangopterus, I noticed a discrepancy with the URL for the Sinraptor. When I clicked on the Sinraptor link, the page text said Sinraptor, and the photos were Sinraptor, but the URL referred to Chilantaisaurus. And the email confirming my order read "Chilantaisaurus" while the pictures show Sinraptor. The seller tells me I will receive what is pictured, which is what I want in Sinraptor, but regarding my Zhejiangopterus order, I know I clicked on and paid for the pterosaur, but the confirmation email reads and shows images of the nodosaur Zhenjiangosaurus. 

So until the package arrives, I don't know what I'm getting, and from other posts, it sounds like I won't be the first if I don't get what I ordered. An annoying inconvenience, but really no big deal; if the figures are wrong, I'll start the process of getting a refund or getting the right figures sent.

ok so is it safer to order ocf monsterhousehk even though everyone hates him and hes a bit pricey cause hes has the figures properly labled unlike the seller on aliexpress

[stargatedalek]

Im confused on which vitae figures are which cause of the confusion but i really want to get them cheap with out accidentally orderingn the wrong figure

When I ordered Sinraptor and Zhejiangopterus, I noticed a discrepancy with the URL for the Sinraptor. When I clicked on the Sinraptor link, the page text said Sinraptor, and the photos were Sinraptor, but the URL referred to Chilantaisaurus. And the email confirming my order read "Chilantaisaurus" while the pictures show Sinraptor. The seller tells me I will receive what is pictured, which is what I want in Sinraptor, but regarding my Zhejiangopterus order, I know I clicked on and paid for the pterosaur, but the confirmation email reads and shows images of the nodosaur Zhenjiangosaurus. 

So until the package arrives, I don't know what I'm getting, and from other posts, it sounds like I won't be the first if I don't get what I ordered. An annoying inconvenience, but really no big deal; if the figures are wrong, I'll start the process of getting a refund or getting the right figures sent.

ok so is it safer to order ocf monsterhousehk even though everyone hates him and hes a bit pricey cause hes has the figures properly labled unlike the seller on aliexpress

No. If Aliexpress sends you the wrong ones you can request they fix it. At worst the additional cost is your time.

[Toasaurus]

Im confused on which vitae figures are which cause of the confusion but i really want to get them cheap with out accidentally orderingn the wrong figure

When I ordered Sinraptor and Zhejiangopterus, I noticed a discrepancy with the URL for the Sinraptor. When I clicked on the Sinraptor link, the page text said Sinraptor, and the photos were Sinraptor, but the URL referred to Chilantaisaurus. And the email confirming my order read "Chilantaisaurus" while the pictures show Sinraptor. The seller tells me I will receive what is pictured, which is what I want in Sinraptor, but regarding my Zhejiangopterus order, I know I clicked on and paid for the pterosaur, but the confirmation email reads and shows images of the nodosaur Zhenjiangosaurus. 

So until the package arrives, I don't know what I'm getting, and from other posts, it sounds like I won't be the first if I don't get what I ordered. An annoying inconvenience, but really no big deal; if the figures are wrong, I'll start the process of getting a refund or getting the right figures sent.

ok so is it safer to order ocf monsterhousehk even though everyone hates him and hes a bit pricey cause hes has the figures properly labled unlike the seller on aliexpress

No. If Aliexpress sends you the wrong ones you can request they fix it. At worst the additional cost is your time.

why though does everyone hate monsterhouse i ordered my chileantisaurus arrived safe and sound a weeks after i ordered it and i ordered off his ebay store so it should be safer cause its ebay right?

[Georassic]

Im confused on which vitae figures are which cause of the confusion but i really want to get them cheap with out accidentally orderingn the wrong figure

When I ordered Sinraptor and Zhejiangopterus, I noticed a discrepancy with the URL for the Sinraptor. When I clicked on the Sinraptor link, the page text said Sinraptor, and the photos were Sinraptor, but the URL referred to Chilantaisaurus. And the email confirming my order read "Chilantaisaurus" while the pictures show Sinraptor. The seller tells me I will receive what is pictured, which is what I want in Sinraptor, but regarding my Zhejiangopterus order, I know I clicked on and paid for the pterosaur, but the confirmation email reads and shows images of the nodosaur Zhenjiangosaurus. 

So until the package arrives, I don't know what I'm getting, and from other posts, it sounds like I won't be the first if I don't get what I ordered. An annoying inconvenience, but really no big deal; if the figures are wrong, I'll start the process of getting a refund or getting the right figures sent.

ok so is it safer to order ocf monsterhousehk even though everyone hates him and hes a bit pricey cause hes has the figures properly labled unlike the seller on aliexpress

No. If Aliexpress sends you the wrong ones you can request they fix it. At worst the additional cost is your time.

why though does everyone hate monsterhouse i ordered my chileantisaurus arrived safe and sound a weeks after i ordered it and i ordered off his ebay store so it should be safer cause its ebay right?

I think the disdain toward Monsterhousehk is that their prices are typically exorbitant. Many of their items can be found for less money on ebay or elsewhere. Otherwise, they're perfectly reputable, and I have bought from them before, via Facebook.

Back to the Vitae figures, there are ebay sellers listing those figures for prices similar to Aliexpress, including the free shipping. You can compare those prices directly to monsterhousehk prices for the same figures. If you are wary of Vitae, I recommend ebay.

[stargatedalek]

MonsterHouse is absolutely not reputable.

They have used stolen photos for their listings.

They have used stock (or stolen) photos for listings of used items.

They inflate their shipping costs to gauge customers.

They use labels of multiple brands ("RARE KAIYODO YUJIN TAKARA WING MAU SCHLEICH").


I purchased an item from them that arrived deteriorated, the plastic sticky to the touch. They tried to convince me to use Citra-Solv on it (a harsh cleaning product that would destroy plastic figures). When I told them that there was no known fix for sticky plastic figures, they changed their tune and told me that this happens a lot and that I should have anticipated this as a risk, despite the product being advertised as "perfect, like new condition". Following the advice of members here I formally requested a refund through Ebay, and they changed again, pretending that they did not understand English despite using it fluently in communicating with me before that.

They also charged $40 shipping for an item that arrived (ruined) in just a padded envelope.

[PhilSauria]

This company seems to have a very apt name - sounds quite terrifying to go in there!!

[RobinGoodfellow]

MonsterHouse is absolutely not reputable.

They have used stolen photos for their listings.

They have used stock (or stolen) photos for listings of used items.

They inflate their shipping costs to gauge customers.

They use labels of multiple brands ("RARE KAIYODO YUJIN TAKARA WING MAU SCHLEICH").


I purchased an item from them that arrived deteriorated, the plastic sticky to the touch. They tried to convince me to use Citra-Solv on it (a harsh cleaning product that would destroy plastic figures). When I told them that there was no known fix for sticky plastic figures, they changed their tune and told me that this happens a lot and that I should have anticipated this as a risk, despite the product being advertised as "perfect, like new condition". Following the advice of members here I formally requested a refund through Ebay, and they changed again, pretending that they did not understand English despite using it fluently in communicating with me before that.

They also charged $40 shipping for an item that arrived (ruined) in just a padded envelope.

..well, you had a bad experience with MHHK and you're angry.
I did several transactions with MHHK without problems: before Amazon, I bought 3 big vinyl PNSO figures; I bougt hard-to-find X-Plus figures there and rare Kaiyodos on MHHK.
For sure MHHK is not the cheapest seller on the web but I can't say that he's not reputable..

[ceratopsian]

To be fair to Monsterhouse, I too have bought from them occasionally, both direct and through eBay.  All my personal experiences have been good (if pricier than on e.g. Aliexpress).

[DinoToyForum]

  Moved discussion about MonsterHouseHK in the Aliexpress thread to this topic, where it seems more appropriate. MonsterHouseHK is not in our list of favourite ebay sellers. To be honest, the list could to with an update.

[Doyouthinkhesaurus Rex]

Hey just a warning, I don't know about Snertus's other figures, but his 2016 PNSO figures are fakes. If you take a quick look at them you can see the colors are completely off.

[Halichoeres]

Hey just a warning, I don't know about Snertus's other figures, but his 2016 PNSO figures are fakes. If you take a quick look at them you can see the colors are completely off.

Interesting, everything else I've gotten from him has seemed to be genuine.

[Duna]

I've bought a lot of stuff from Snertus and he's very reputable. Answers quickly, adjusts the price in shipping and lists their figures with a lot of information, and if they are bootlegs or not, for example the Jaro or Hong Kong figures that are knock offs of Marx.
Yes, some of the PNSO 2016 figures he sells have different colors but the Kentrosaurus for example, it's just like the one reviewed in Dinotoyblog: http://dinotoyblog.com/2017/02/21/kentrosaurus-age-of-the-dinosaurs-by-pnso/ Maybe he's not aware of that and he bought them for his collection several years ago or maybe they are early paintings or something, I'm not an expert. But he may answer that question without any problem.

[brettnj]

Hey.

I've long wanted to ask this, but seeing the above discussion for the first time...why would anyone here buy Japanese figures from a seller whose prices are exorbitant (and we can arguably use the word exploitive), when they virtually always have the option of buying the same figures for far less from my source and me?

To be very clear, I'm not asking why everyone doesn't choose us; I know some collectors have their own good options. Just why anyone would choose to patronize a business that charges far more and doesn't provide anywhere near the services we do.

We buy from YAJ, Mercari, manufacturers' (like Favorite, Colorata, etc.) websites, and anywhere else in Japan, and sell in almost all cases* for just 15% over actual costs (with a 600 yen minimum for older individual figures (300 yen each going to my source and to me) and a 1200 yen minimum for older sets (600 each to my source and me) and half those minimums for new releases (So you only pay only 300 yen over our cost per individual new figure and 600 yen over our cost per newly released set.). So we're virtually always beating eBay as well.

*We usually charge more for figures physically obtained from actual expo and exhibit venues because one, my source has to actually go to them and in some cases spend hours using machines to get randomly distributed figures (and also we need to then be able to not lose money due to spares obtained as a result of doing so), and even then, we virtually--and in all likelihood literally--always offer the lowest prices, often by far. And two, so we can fairly make some better money for ourselves on these rare occasions while still providing our buyers with their best options. Surely we get more buyers reaching out to us for these sort of figures than for any others.

We also do everything possible to minimize costs to buyers while also providing every service/benefit we've thought to offer, including performing searches to find buyers the best options, saving searches, sending search links, combining bids from different buyers for sets or lots, combining purchases from different buyers from websites to obtain free shipping to my source, making everyone aware of new sets as soon as they are known to us, sending links to rare items or great or potentially great deals on a daily basis, and most significantly combining shipping to buyers on all orders up to six months (and in some cases longer). I'm sure there are more I'm missing. Plus none of my buyers' bids on the same items raise any others' since one person--my source--is bidding for all interested.

As an aside, but just to highlight the comparison even more, even when I charge high prices on eBay, it's because I'm offering the rarest of items and for the most part I'm paying high prices for them myself (while simultaneously making sure they are still the lowest prices on the site not just at the time of their posting but with intermittent checks thereafter). I'm supposing this source is paying less to far less than me for inventory but we know he is charging more to far more...

And in my case my eBay buyers only have to pay my high price on the site once before they are eligible to pay our normal low fees for virtually anything else they'd want.

Finally, I've mentioned here multiple times that I'd beat any price they can find for Kaiyodo Dinotales (and other figures) in my own inventory, and I typically don't just do by, for example, $1. And so far the only times I haven't done so are when I didn't have the figure (though I have the entire series, most individual sets, and the vast majority of individual figures available).

I sent a draft of this to two of my long term buyers to ask if they had any thoughts about either its contents and whether they saw any issue with my posting it. Both suggested that some might think the means by which we work is too complicated or arduous. Trust the opposite is true, and then some, as not only do we save our buyers a lot of money, we also do much of the work for them.

If anyone is interested in knowing more, please message me with your e-mail address and I'll respond with a paste detailing how we work.

Thanks.
Brett

[stargatedalek]

TLDR;

DO NOT support Monster House! They are actively exploitative and sell items at far more than their appropriate value.

Buy from Brett instead, I can vouch for great deals and absolutely pleasant service.

[Loon]

100% agree with @stargatedalek, Brett is one of the best sellers out there.

[SBell]

I know that I have many means to get things from Japan (I'm resourceful like that) but for the effort that Brett and his contacts put in, it's more than worth it. And overall definitely the best possible prices--unless you're already in Japan (which is the problem for most of us!)

Also, I gues @stargatedalek already identified who we're all thinking of...I do know that I had to send several messages many years back, as he was using my photos from the web for his auctions (and I wasn't the only person). Not only is that questionable, but for used or open figures...how do you know what you're getting if the photo is from my shelf?!

[Fembrogon]

I'd like to recommend guitarscot41; I just got my little Sinclair Ankylosaurus from them, quickly shipped and securely packaged. They've got a bunch of other vintage collectibles for those hunting (as long as you don't expect them to be dirt-cheap).